Hilary Koprowski (5 December 191611 April 2013) was a Polish virologist and immunologist active in the

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who demonstrated the world's first effective live

polio vaccine Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated vaccine, inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a attenuated vaccine, weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Healt ...

. He authored or co-authored over 875 scientific papers and co-edited several

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

s. Koprowski received many academic honors and national decorations, including the Belgian Order of the Lion, the French

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

and

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, Finland's Order of the Lion, and the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. Koprowski was the target of accusations in the press related to the " oral polio vaccine AIDS hypothesis", which posited that the AIDS pandemic originated from live polio vaccines developed by Koprowski in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

. This hypothesis was challenged on numerous grounds, and scientists largely rejected it.

Life

Hilary Koprowski was born in Warsaw to an educated, assimilated Jewish family. His parents met in 1906 when Paweł Koprowski (1882–1957) was serving in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, and moved to Warsaw soon after their marriage in 1912. His mother Sonia (née Berland; 1883–1967), was a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

from Berdichev. Hilary Koprowski attended Warsaw's

Mikołaj Rej Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice (4 February 1505 – between 8 September/5 October 1569) was a Polish poet and prose writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the Middle Ages in Poland, Middle Ages, as well as a po ...

Secondary School, and from age twelve he took piano lessons at the Warsaw Conservatory. He received a

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

from Warsaw University in 1939. He also received music degrees from the Warsaw Conservatory and, in 1940, from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He adopted scientific research as his life's work, but never gave up music and composed several musical works. In July 1938, while in medical school, Koprowski married Irena Grasberg. In 1939, after

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's invasion of Poland, Koprowski and his wife, likewise a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, fled the country, using Koprowski family business connections in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. Hilary went to Rome, where he spent a year studying

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory; while Irena went to France, where she gave birth to their first child, Claude Koprowski, and worked as an attending physician at a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

. As the invasion of France loomed in 1940, Irena and the infant escaped from France via Spain and Portugal —where the Koprowski family reunited — to

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, where Koprowski worked in

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for the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

. His field of research for several years was finding a live-virus vaccine against yellow fever. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Koprowskis settled in Pearl River, New York, where Hilary was hired as a researcher for Lederle Laboratories, the pharmaceutical division of American Cyanamid. Here he began his

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

experiments, which ultimately led to the creation of the first oral polio vaccine. Koprowski served as director of the Wistar Institute, 1957–91, during which period Wistar achieved international recognition for its vaccine research and became a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center. Koprowski died on April 11, 2013, aged 96, in Wynnewood, near

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, Pennsylvania, of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. He and his wife are buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Southlawn Section, Lot 782, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Hilary Koprowski and his late wife had two sons. Their first child Claude (born in Paris, 1940), who died in 2020, was a retired physician. Their second son, Christopher (born 1951) is a retired physician certified in two specialties, neurology and radio-oncology. He is also the former chair of the department of radiation oncology at

Christiana Hospital Christiana Hospital is a 1,039-bed nationally ranked, non-profit, Tertiary care, tertiary, research and Teaching hospital, academic medical center located in Stanton, Delaware, Stanton, Newark, Delaware, Newark, Delaware, servicing the entire Del ...

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Polio vaccine

While at Lederle Laboratories, Koprowski created an early polio vaccine, based on an orally administered attenuated polio virus. In researching a potential polio vaccine, he had focused on live viruses that were attenuated (rendered non-virulent) rather than on killed viruses (the latter became the basis for the injected vaccine subsequently developed by Jonas Salk). Koprowski viewed the live vaccine as more powerful, since it entered the intestinal tract directly and could provide lifelong immunity, whereas the Salk vaccine required booster shots. Also, administering a vaccine by mouth is easy, whereas an injection requires medical facilities and is more expensive. Koprowski developed his polio vaccine by attenuating the virus in brain cells of a cotton rat, '' Sigmodon hispidus'', a

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

species that is susceptible to polio. He administered the vaccine to himself in January 1948 and, on 27 February 1950, to 20 children at Letchworth Village, a home for disabled persons in Rockland County, New York. Seventeen of the 20 children developed antibodies to polio virus — the other three apparently already had antibodies — and none of the children developed complications. Within 10 years, the vaccine was being used on four continents. Albert Sabin's early work with attenuated-live-virus polio vaccine was developed from attenuated polio virus that Sabin had received from Koprowski.

Rabies vaccine

In addition to his work on the polio vaccine, Koprowski (along with Stanley Plotkin and Tadeusz Wiktor) did significant work on an improved vaccine against

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...

. The group developed the HDCV rabies vaccine in the 1960s at the Wistar Institute. It was licensed for use in the United States in 1980.

Affiliations

Koprowski was president of Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, Inc, and head of the Center for Neurovirology at

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. ...

. In 2006 he was awarded a record 50th grant from the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. He authored or co-authored over 875 scientific papers and co-edited several scientific journals. He served as a consultant to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

and the Pan American Health Organization.

Honors and legacy

Koprowski received many honorary degrees, academic honors, and national decorations, including the Order of the Lion from the King of Belgium, the French Order of Merit for Research and Invention, a Fulbright Scholarship, and appointment as Alexander von Humboldt Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 1989 he received the

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Award for Medicine and the Nicolaus Copernicus Medal of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

in Warsaw. Koprowski received numerous honors in

, including the Philadelphia Cancer Research Award, the

John Scott Award John Scott Award, created in 1816 as the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, is presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way. "...the John Scott Medal Fund, establish ...

and, in May 1990, the most prestigious honor of his home city, the Philadelphia Award. He was a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which in 1959 presented him with its Alvarenga Prize. Koprowski was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. He held foreign membership in the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, the

, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. On June 3, 1983, Koprowski received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Medicine at

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. On 22 March 1995, Koprowski was made a Commander of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

's Order of the Lion by Finland's president. On 13 March 1997 he received the Legion d'Honneur from the French government. On 29 September 1998 he was presented by Poland's president with the Grand Cross of Poland's

. On 25 February 2000 Koprowski was honored with a reception at

celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first administration of his oral polio vaccine. At the reception, he received commendations from the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, the

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, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. On 13 September 2004, Koprowski was presented with the Pioneer in NeuroVirology Award by the International Society for NeuroVirology at the 6th International Symposium on NeuroVirology held in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. On 1 May 2007, Koprowski was awarded the Albert Sabin Gold Medal by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in

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. In 2014

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

established the Hilary Koprowski Prize in Neurovirology in honor of Dr. Koprowski's contributions to the field of neurovirology. The prize is awarded annually in conjunction with the International Symposium on Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, which is sponsored by the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease (IMMID) within the Drexel University College of Medicine. During the Symposium, the prize recipient is asked to deliver an honorary lecture.

AIDS accusation

British journalist Edward Hooper publicized a hypothesis that Koprowski's research into a polio vaccine in the

in the late 1950s might have caused

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. The OPV AIDS hypothesis has, however, been rejected by the medical community and is contradicted by at least one article in the journal ''

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'', which claims the HIV-1 group M virus originated in Africa 30 years before the OPV trials were conducted. The journal ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'' refuted Hooper's claims, writing: " can be stated with almost complete certainty that the large polio vaccine trial... was not the origin of AIDS." Koprowski rejected the claim, based on his own analysis. In a separate court case, he won a regretful clarification, and a symbolic award of $1 in damages, in a defamation suit against ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', which had published an article repeating similar false allegations. ''

'' published an apology. A concurrent defamation lawsuit that Koprowski brought against the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

was settled several years later; the settlement's terms were not publicly disclosed. Koprowski's original reports from 1960 to 1961 detailing part of his vaccination campaign in the Belgian Congo are available online from the

.LeBrun A, Cerf J, Gelfand HM, Courtois G, Plotkin SA, Koprowski H (1960) "Vaccination with the CHAT strain of type 1 attenuated poliomyelities virus in Leopoldville, Belgian Congo 1. Description of the city, its history of poliomyelitis, and the plan of the vaccination campaign", ''Bull World Health Organ.'' 22:203-1
online
Plotkin SA, LeBrun A, Koprowski H (1960) "Vaccination with the CHAT strain of type 1 attenuated poliomyelitis virus in Leopoldville. Belgian Congo 2. Studies of the safety and efficacy of vaccination", ''Bull World Health Organ'' 22:215-3
online
Plotkin SA, LeBrun A, Courtois G, Koprowski H (1961) "Vaccination with the CHAT strain of type 1 attenuated poliomyelitis virus in Leopoldville, Congo 3. Safety and efficacy during the first 21 months of study" ''Bull World Health Organ'' 24:785-9
online

Notes

References

* Roger Vaughan, ''Listen to the Music: The Life of Hilary Koprowski'', Berlin, Springer, 2000; * David Oshinsky, ''Polio: An American Story'', Oxford University Press, 2005;
2007 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal awarded to Hilary Koprowski (booklet/PDF file)
accessed 21 April 2015. * ''Directory fPIASA Members, 1999'', New York City, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, 1999.

External links

* Internet Archive. *Stacey Burling (April 14, 2013)
"Hilary Koprowski, polio vaccine pioneer, dead at 96".
Philly.com, Internet Archive. * New York Times Obituary (April 21, 2013)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koprowski, Hilary Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni American immunologists American medical researchers American people of Polish-Jewish descent American virologists Chopin University of Music alumni Commanders of the Order of the Lion of Finland Deaths from pneumonia in Pennsylvania Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Polio Polish emigrants to the United States Polish immunologists Rockefeller Foundation people University of Warsaw alumni Vaccinologists 1916 births 2013 deaths Polish recipients of the Legion of Honour